Speakers condemned what they described as Israeli aggression in Lebanon and praised “resistance” to Israel.
Around 200 people attended a vigil at McGill downtown campus Tuesday evening in solidarity with people killed and displaced by Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
Speakers condemned what they described as Israeli aggression in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip and praised “resistance” to Israel, while many members of the mostly young crowd held candles.
Israel has said it is conducting a limited ground operation against targets liked to Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group considered a terrorist organization by the Canadian government, in southern Lebanon.
The operation follows airstrikes in Lebanon that killed Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime chief of Hezbollah, which is both a Lebanese political party and militant group, as well as the explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies used by the group.
But for speakers at the Montreal vigil, the deaths of civilians and Israeli ground operations are a sign that the attacks are not being precisely targeted, but are preparations to invade and annex parts of Lebanon.
“I am very afraid of circumstances I cannot control, like losing the country my ancestors have called home for generations before me and losing the home my father, uncles, and grandfather have built for years,” said one speaker, who described herself as a representative of the Lebanese Student Association but declined to give her name.
She said she worries about her parents in Lebanon and about the orphans and widows that will be created by the conflict, as well as the fear that she won’t be able to return home.
“I am afraid of losing the biggest part and the most prominent part of my identity, which is my country, and losing the only certitude I’ve ever had in my life, which is to grow old in my childhood home with my sister,” she said.
Hassan Ridha, a Concordia University student who spoke at the vigil, said that while deaths in Gaza and Lebanon are sad, those who have been killed continue to live with Allah.
“Martyrdom, to be killed fighting for a cause greater than yourself, is the most honourable thing you can do, and this is in itself is a victory,” he said.
Hezbollah and Israel have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since Oct. 8, 2023, with communities in northern Israel evacuated as a result.
Israel has said it will continue to strike Hezbollah until it is safe for citizens displaced from homes near the Lebanon border to return. Hezbollah has vowed to keep firing rockets into Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza with Hamas, which is also supported by Iran.
On Tuesday, Iran launched at least 180 of missiles at Israel, there was no immediate report of casualties in the attack.
Near the vigil, at McGill’s Roddick Gates, where several people waved Palestinian flags, “Go, Iran, go!” had been written in multicoloured chalk, with a swear word used to describe Israel.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.